(Miscellaneous)
December 31st, 2009
2009 has been a year of turbulent change for me.
Near the beginning of the year, I decided that I needed to switch gears in my career. I made a very dedicated push towards becoming a full-time Ruby developer, leaving my comfortable position as a J2EE web content management and identity management specialist. My leisure time was consumed with sharpening my Ruby skills and learning new technologies. I made Rails Pub Nite a monthly ritual and networked like crazy on just about every networking site I could. I followed a number of job site feeds and sent out many cover letters and resumes.
Finally, my break came from a very unlikely source: Facebook. I posted to a Ruby on Rails group on Facebook to advertise my skills and experience and offer my services. This was seen by the Systems Manager at the Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants, who asked me to send her my resume. I did so gladly and not too long after that I was asked in for an interview.
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(Miscellaneous)
June 9th, 2009
In short, Ruby Job Fair was awesome!
The turnout from the Toronto Ruby community was excellent and I made and strengthened a lot of professional connections. I even got some compliments on my display and print-outs! Just in case you missed them, I’ll be posting them here soon.
It did feel like there were more developers than people looking to hire developers, but this was just the first of what I’m sure will be many such events. In any case, I did hand out a lot of my brand new business cards and a few of my resumes.
I can’t wait for FutureRuby!
(Programming)
June 6th, 2009
Ruby Job Fair will be held today from 11am to 6pm at the Gladstone Hotel in downtown Toronto. At this job fair, Rubyists looking for work will be presenting themselves and their skills without computers or smartphones. We’ve been asked to leave our MacBooks at home. Instead, our presentations will be made in old-school Science Fair style.
It’s a unique premise for an event that I’m pretty sure only Pete Forde’s imagination could cook up and I’m proud to announce that I’ll be taking part in it. I will have a posterboard and two binders showcasing my skills and previous work and I’ll also have an extra special surprise. What’s the surprise? Stop by and see! =)
Hope to see you at the Job Fair!
